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It's time to announce the winners of my Blogoversary contest and the winner of the SIGNED copy of Glass Sword!!!First for Blogoversary giveaway, both winners will receive $20 (US) worth of books from their choice of The Book Depository, Amazon, etc! And I am so happy to announce there is one US winner and one UK winner!! And the winners are...

MEGAN S. & CHRISTINA T.!!!

Congrats ladies!! Emails have been sent! You'll have 48 hours to reply or else new winners will have to be chosen. :(

And now for the winner of the SIGNED copy of Glass Sword! Can you believe I still need to read this one? ...Yeah, it's believable! LOL!And the winner is...

Cheyenne Teska!

Congrats Cheyenne!! I sent you an email and you'll have 48 hours to respond or else a new winner will have to be chosen. :(Congrats again everyone! I hope to be doing another contest sometime soonish, but we'll have to see how things go!

Nothing
much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until
River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s
crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet
begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard.

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?

Violet’s
grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he
could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee,
who kisses you in a cemetery... who makes you want to kiss back.

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending
faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April
Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as
gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

Upon
learning about the Penguin Teen Author tour coming to my city later in
March, I decided to check out some of the authors’ books and April
Genevieve Tucholke was one I
really wanted to read after enjoying her short story in Slasher Girls and Monster Boys! So naturally, I started at the beginning with
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. A book I stayed
away from before because of a few not so happy reviews, but when I saw
it at Half Price Books, I decided, why not? And I found I quite enjoyed
it!

Violet
and her twin brother, Luke have been living in their parents’ old
mansion completely on their own for the past few months. Their parents
are artists, and besides somehow
lack the parental gene, were traveling in Europe for their art. And in
the meantime, Violet and Luke had run out of money to keep themselves
alive, so Violet decided to rent out the guest cottage on their property
and shortly after, a guy around her age comes
to rent the place out, in cash, up front. So naturally, accepting the
strange boy called River into their home (sort of) was a no brainer.

River
was a very interesting and mysterious character. I’ve had my share of
mysterious characters, especially guys in books. But he would definitely
make the top ten for the
moment! Everything about this boy was strange, the way he dressed, the
way he spoke, some of his odd little habits that just made you raise an
eyebrow. And all the while I found myself contemplating who or what he
could be. I definitely wasn’t expecting the
answer, which I will naturally not divulge in here!

Violet
was another odd sort of character, but in the normal odd sort of way,
if that makes sense! She was the quiet girl, intelligent in her own
right. She had a fondness
for old things, especially things left behind by her deceased
grandmother. Her brother Luke was a tool. I mean, I know siblings don’t
generally get along, but he was downright nasty and cruel to her for the
most part. Though as the story moves along, and the
eerie secretiveness grew stronger, you start to see rare moments of
niceness from Luke. It almost had me getting suspicious until eventually
I could see he was genuine in this sudden change.

Since
the parents are totally absent in this book, it’s not surprising to see
these teens acting out or in Violet’s case, taking on levels of
maturity that she shouldn’t have
to so early in life. But I must admit I really enjoyed watching their
characters grow!

Now
for the mysterious bits! There’s a lot of weird things happening in
this sleepy little town! Children going missing, odd things happening
that don’t appear to make any
sense, and even murders! Yes, the bodies are dropping left and right in
this one! Okay, it wasn’t that many, but it was far more than you would
expect! Which to mean, more than one is a lot! That means some serious
work is going down and that’s definitely
the case here.

Naturally,
Violet starts to suspect River of these things. Because it makes
perfect sense. New boy to town, who’s kind of weird and mysterious. Then
the creepy and scary stuff
happens, why wouldn’t she think they were connected? And naturally,
things run far deeper than she could ever imagine!

I
really liked this one! Far more than I thought I would, when the
description mentions “contemporary”. While there is definitely a
contemporary setting, things are far more
weird and creepy and mysterious—yes I am overusing this word, but it’s
warranted because I never quite pinned down any of these strange
happenings—for this to be just any old contemporary read!

Between the Devil and Deep Blue Sea
is the epitome of mysterious! It’s strange and eerie and nothing is
ever as it seems. I highly recommend this one
if you like a read filled with mystery and secrets. It’s not your
cold-cut mystery read of whodunit, but a variation! It was quite
fascinating and had me riveted throughout!

At
times, the pacing might be a touch slow where you’re not sure where
things are going. Our heroine does a lot of doubting and questioning
herself and those around her, but
it all seems to fit well with the story when you look at it from afar!
The ending was pretty jaw-dropping with an added twist that takes things
to a new level! And now I am left eager for that sequel!! So I’m off to
go buy that! Wished HPB had had that too,
because you know I would’ve bought and binged these both! Now I must
wait for it to arrive after I order it and that will leave me reading
something new in between! The pain of waiting never ends for the reader!
(LOL!)

Anyone can enter. You don’t have to have a blog just as long as you
review your books somewhere: on your blog if you have one, Amazon,
Goodreads, Shelfari, etc.

Any genre, length, or format is acceptable as long as it is the last
book in a series where all books in the series have been published and
no more books are currently intended to be published in the series. If
an author makes a decision somewhere during the year to add on to the
series, we will count both the original last book in the series and the
“new last” book in the series assuming the author isn’t going to write
more than one additional book. Last book published in a series doesn’t
count if more books are expected to be published.

You can list your series enders ahead of time or do a singular wrap
up post. If you decide to list them up front, feel free to change them
throughout the year as necessary.

When you sign up in the linky, please use the direct link to your
post about joining the 2016 Series Enders Reading Challenge. If you
don’t have a blog, please post about it on Facebook or Twitter and
include that direct link as your sign up.

You can sign up until December 15, 2016. This allows you to join the challenge at any time during the year.

On the 25th of every month, we will post a wrap up on both Somewhere Only We Know and Words Fueled by Love
with a giveaway and a place for you to link up your reviews for the
month. The monthly giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post
goes up (ex. From January 25th 2016, to February 25th 2016). For each
link to a review, you will get an (1) entry into a drawing for that
giveaway. This will be open internationally.

Monthly giveaway prizes will be an e-gift card of your choice up to
$5 (USD) from Amazon, The Book Depository, or Barnes and Noble.

If you miss a wrap-up post and giveaway, you can link your review
the next month. Please do not try to link to one review twice. We will
be verifying these.

December will be the wrap up for the entire year. All reviews linked
from January through December will be entered into a Grand Prize
giveaway. Also due to Christmas, the December wrap up will post on
December 23rd and will be open until January 23rd.

Okay, since I was already planning on finishing a few series this year, I thought let's make it official! Looking at the list I wrote up for myself, there's 8 series on it and I actually already finished 1 or possibly 2, but it's not 100% if that series will get another book just yet! I haven't seen anything at least! So my goal is in the 5-10 category! Shooting for the 8 but might try for more as there are more than one book that needs reading for most of my 8 series!

Stacking The Shelves is all about the
books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our
excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book
in the process!I survived my week!! Barely. As it turns out, my credit card was hacked and when I went to buy lunch for me and my mom, it turns out there was a hold on it due to suspicious activity. I have since cleared it up, hopefully 100% and will get a new card next week sometime. It's just a hassle and nightmare. It really put me in a down mood for the rest of the day. And worse, I couldn't really go shopping happily anymore. Sigh...this is the first time this has happened to me ever, so I was pretty down. But it's taken care of and all will be well soon enough!

At least I got some great books this week!!! YAY books!!! And I don't have to read 1 of them since it's just a UK copy that I loved the cover too! Darn you Half Price Books! (just kidding, I love you and so love that you get UK copies! Keep it up and I'll keep buying them!)Here's what I bought:

A new Books I've Read Journal! I found my old one and decided to use this to write better summaries for myself when it came to reading sequels a year later!

I got this in the mail this week:

SWAG from Nicole Castroman! A SIGNED bookmark, postcard, and a nifty little pirate bracelet!

Then I also got this:

A NEW iPhone 6s!! My old phone was a 4s, so an upgrade was long overdue!! I'm still trying to get used to it, but I am liking it so far!

So other than a busy and intense work week and then the dreadful credit card situation, my week wasn't too bad! I'll feel better once I get my new card and things roll back into a more normal routine! What did you all get?

The goal is to increase blog followers, make friends and have something to post.

You create your own post using the post prompt.

You leave your link and thumbnail in the linky list that links back to your post prompt.

Once you have your post up and linked, visit other posts and tell them hi. The point is to FOLLOW them not just comment.

If you see a post that just hit it to the moon, or just want to show
appreciation to a fellow blogger friend, like their name on the linky
list to show some appreciation.

The person with the most likes gets chosen as the next Feature (you
can be chosen every 90 days unless we are in need of features)

It is required that if you participate that you have to follow the
FEATURE. It is a big no-no to participate and ignore the feature. They
are the special snowflake in this little blizzard.

As a participant it is up to your discretion on how you want people
to follow. Please post RSS, GFC etc if you have a follow of choice.

Specific RULES

Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.

Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for
people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are
now following you.

If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC
(Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be
followed FOLLOW as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a
few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also,
don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know
you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”

Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a
few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also,
don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know
you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”

If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love…and the followers

This week's prompt: Ten Reasons You Read Your Favorite Genre

MY ANSWER: My favorite genre is Urban Fantasy, and that lately includes a lot of Paranormal YA. So mostly a wide branch of Paranormal reads, you could say! Therefore, in no particular order...

1.Being grounded in reality but with a touch of "weird" aka paranormal peeps

2.Kickass or just all around awesome heroines

3.Snark/humor...there's always some good laughs to be had!

4.Lots of action!

5.Sizzling romance, but yet, it doesn't overwhelm or takeover the entire story!

7.Rich in mythology;a lot of the paranormal creature type reads come with its own bout of mythology or lore regarding said paranormal peep. Vampires who walk in sunlight and eat human food, werewolves who can change any night or restricted to full moon...control vs no control...so many different types to read about! No two vampire or werewolves, etc, are the same!

8.Incredible secondary characters! Usually in the forms of best friends or family and they're sometimes so incredibly awesome they get their own book!

9. An overall enjoyment!It's rare that I don't enjoy one of my paranormal books! They are always just so awesome!

10.Talented authors...I truly love these authors who write these books! Having met quite a few I can honestly say they're incredibly amazing and nice people!

Time for more fun and thrilling factoids from That's a Fact Jack: A Collection of Utterly Useless Information [Updated] by Harry Bright and Jakob Anser! I really like how this does seem to be a book of "useless" information! But it's still rather intriguing!

"William McKinley was the first president to ride in an electric car--the ambulance that took him to a hospital after he was shot by an assassin."

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

The start of a spooky yet romantic dark paranormal horror series from Glimmerglass author Jenna Black

The night is the enemy, and the city of Philadelphia is its deadliest weapon.

Becket
is an ordinary teenage girl, wrestling with the upheaval of her
parents' divorce. Her biggest problems to date have been choosing which
colleges to apply to, living up to her parents' ambitious expectations
of her, and fighting her secret crush on her best friend's boyfriend.
That all changes the night she tries to save an innocent life and
everything goes horribly wrong.

Becket has been tricked into
opening a door between worlds. As dark magic trickles into Philadelphia,
strange creatures roam the streets and inanimate objects come to life,
all of them bloodthirsty and terrifying. The city returns to normal when
the sun rises each morning. The moment the sun sets, most citizens shut
themselves in their houses and stay there no matter what they hear.

The
magic is openly hostile to most mortals, but there are some it seems to
covet, trying to lure them out into the night. While Becket struggles
to protect her friends and family from predatory creatures of the night,
she is constantly tempted to shrug off her responsibilities and join
them.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes the breathtaking conclusion to the Age of Legends trilogy, perfect for fans of Graceling and Game of Thrones.

The
empire rests on the edge of a knife, and sisters Ashyn and Moria are
the handle and the blade. Desperate to outmaneuver the evil Alvar
Kitsune, whose hold on the people grows stronger every day, Emperor
Tatsu begs Moria to put aside past grievances and ally with Gavril—at
least long enough to make an attempt on Alvar’s life. Meanwhile,
reunited with her long-lost grandfather, Ashyn discovers that she is the
key to a ritual that could reawaken an ancient dragon and turn the tide
of the coming battle in their favor.

But with lies and betrayal
lurking around every corner, Ashyn and Moria will have to decide once
and for all where their allegiances are. And it may not be where their
hearts would lead them....

In this breathtaking final book in her
epic trilogy the Age of Legends, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Kelley Armstrong blends fantasy, action, and romance to give readers the
unforgettable ending they’ve been waiting for.

Return to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s "phenomenal" (Urban Fantasy Investigations)
world of the Others — where supernatural entities and humans struggle
to co-exist, and one woman has begun to change all the rules

After winning the trust of the terra indigene
residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring
out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely
tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more.

The
appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the
humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby
cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the
snow, Simon Wolfgard — Lakeside’s shape-shifting leader — wonders if
their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat.

As
the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds
its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans
residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming
their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them
all.

I finally picked up the second book in Anne Bishop’s
Others series, A Murder of Crows and I found I
quite enjoyed it though, again there was a struggle to recall the events
of the previous book. But it didn’t seem as bad this time around!

The
thing about this series is, you have to realize that the pacing is
slower than usual, but for some reason, I find that this works for me
with this world. Yes, it takes
a long time to see things happen and then to see some resolution, but
there’s a lot of growth and development going on in between all that.
Meg is still learning how to be “normal” in a sense, since she’s no
longer a prisoner under the Controller’s command.

In
this one we start to see a lot of hate going on between the Others and
humans. Humans start attacked Others for no reason, really and the
Others retaliate. And this ultimately
starts causing friction and tension between the two groups. And the
humans who work for the Others in their Courtyards are pretty much
ostracized. It’s a dog eat dog kind of world going on here.

Having
that in mind, we also get a few history lessons along the way. The
Others were here in the country first, and then they allowed humans to
live besides them in exchange
for goods or such. But once humans break the treaty from years past,
the Others take back what was theirs and chaos ensues.

Among
all this, there are a set of drugs; gone over wolf and feel good, that
are being distributed and it’s causing deaths. Humans are dealing it to
other humans, but then
some start using it on Others in order to kill them basically. There’s a
lot of prejudice between the two groups in this one and there’s a lot
of fallout to be dealt with.

We
also see more of the Controller in a way and the dealing with the
Cassandra sangues he holds captive. Simon and the other terra indigene
get involved in the matter. I felt
it was a little unclear what exactly happened on that front, but I
suspect my suspicions are accurate, which I won’t divulge in.

I
truly enjoyed the dynamics between Meg and Simon! There’s still so much
tension between these two, and yet, there’s nothing romantic going on
between them yet. But we can
clearly see things possibly starting to happen. There are lots of
little moments between them. Some can be written off as harmless
affection between friends, but others leave you seeing more! This is by
far one of the most slow burn romances I’ve ever read
and it’s definitely a nice change of pace. I just keep hoping something
happens between these two though!

The Others
series isn’t really for everyone, with its slower paced pages. But
there’s still plenty of enjoyment to be had if you love good character
development!
Watching Meg grow and learn how to be a functional and average human
being is enjoyable! She’s not up to date on everything. She only knows
what her Controller allowed her to know. So her seeing her learn and
develop her skills is enjoyable! I love her character!

I’m
hoping the tension between humans and the Others doesn’t last long. For
I miss some of the interactions we had with a few of our human friends.
But only time will tell!

If
you’re looking for a nice and steady read with lots of good characters
and plenty of plot development, this is the read for you! While it is
slower paced, it’s still highly
enjoyable! Perfect for those nice lazy days!

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc

"He wanted to go with her, wanted to curl up beside her tonight. Then he heard the Wolves howling, a reminder that there were guests in the Courtyard who might become uneasy if they saw evidence of him being too friendly with a human--especially one who was Namid's terrible creation." p. 327

Top Ten Tuesday
is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of
lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists
with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here
at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.
All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on
your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so
that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a
blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun
way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

This week's topic is: 10 songs I wish that were books

*I accidentally did this week's topic LAST week, so this week I will do last week's topic! :D

*in no particular order

**I listen to a variety of rock! Classic, hard, heavy metal (according to some), alternative...so this will be a wide variety of songs here!

1. ANIMAL I HAVE BECOME by Three Days Grace--totally see this being a werewolf story!

2. HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF by Duran Duran--another great werewolf story in the making for obvious reasons!

3. GOODBYE EARL by The Dixie Chicks--yeah, maybe not so much a paranormal story, but still a great murder story! Revenge at it's best!! *Evil laugh* For those not in the know, this song is about two best friends who kill the one of them's husbands because he beat her a lot.

4. THRILLER by Michael Jackson--a creepy book with ghosts and ghouls? Hell yes!

5. BECOMING THE DRAGON by Trivium--the title speaks for itself!

6. BODIES by Drowning Pool--well maybe not so much a book all on its own, but it makes a totally great song to have to set the fight scene!!

7. FALLEN ANGEL by Three Days Grace--another one that speaks for itself! Yeah, I might be cheating with a few of these title ones! LOL!

8. GALLOWS by Atreyu--bring on the pirates!!

9. GET OUT ALIVE by Three Days Grace--this would make a great suspense type read!!

10. LIVING AFTER MIDNIGHT by Drowning Pool--yeah...this would be a good one with just about any kind of paranormal peep!

When fragile,
sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas,
her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland,
Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but
also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the
twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two
hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the
way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital
to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing. Addictive,
romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens.

I
received this eARC from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an
honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.

Janet B. Taylor’s debut
Into the Dim was a most magical and stunning read! I’ve
always enjoyed a good time traveling novel. I may not be the best with
history and memorizing dates, but I do enjoy knowing things that have
happened long ago, particularly
if a ghost story is linked to it! But that’s not the case here.

My
first fear with all time traveling novels involves the science behind
the time traveling. I am so not a science person. I enjoyed English and
creative writing courses,
but never science. That’s too hardcore facts for me, but honestly, the
science here wasn’t all that bad. It’s explained rather easily with how
time traveling works, and that worked for me!

Hope’s
mother has recently been declared dead. Eight months ago she was at a
university giving a lecture, when an earthquake struck and killed nearly
everyone. We open the
book to see Hope and her father attending the funeral he wanted to have
for Hope’s mother, in order to let go. Yet, a part of Hope wants to
believe that her mother is still alive, they never did find a body. As
morbid as that seems, I can understand Hope’s
logic.

Hope
is offered to spend the summer in Scotland with her mom’s family, and
since there really is no other option for her, she goes. And that is
where the journey truly begins.

It’s
not long before Hope is introduced to the time traveling world and
learning that her aunt is head of a particular group who goes back into
time. Her mission is to locate
a powerful stone that can allow for easier time traveling with no
restrictions, for currently, there are restrictions.

There’s
so much detail to this story, it’s amazing! There were so many
characters that I enjoyed meeting and trying to speculate on their
personality and character traits.
But truly, never once did I feel overwhelmed or confused with anything.
The words flow so easily off the page I wanted more and more.

There
is a bit of romance in the book as well. When Hope meets Bran, it’s not
quite the insta love reaction you might expect, yet there’s this
tension between them. A definite
buzz that you know something is going to happen. And then, just wow! I
totally saw one thing coming, but there was yet another major surprise
that Janet throws at us that totally threw me through the loop!

I
also feel like that there could be a possible love triangle situation
going on. I’d rather hope not, but I guess the love triangle cynic in me
is always looking to see if
there is one somewhere. I feel like one is loosely set up in the
background, but for the moment, we do remain focused on just the one
couple.

I
really enjoyed Hope’s character as well. She is pretty intelligent and
has an eidetic memory, which I SO envy! But she has her flaws too, which
is a nice sort of balance.
I was afraid her memory gift would make her a bit haughty, but she was
anything but! I loved her interactions with Collum, who was sort of the
“prodigy” time traveler in her aunt’s group. She knocks him off that
high horse of his a time or two, but I feel
like we’ve barely scratched the surface of his full character. I feel
like he might stand out a bit more in the next book. It’s just a
feeling, not anything I picked up on in the pages. But we’ll see how
things go this time next year, so someone please remind
me of what I am saying! LOL, because as I said, I am the opposite of
Hope and her “super” memory!

Into the Dim
was a stunning and remarkable read! I was eating up the pages despite
an initial hesitancy to start the book. I am ever so glad that I decided
to read this anyway, because it was one of the most entertaining and
surprising reads of the year so far! I love a good surprising twist to
the story, especially if I don’t see it coming! There was a good balance
of surprises I could detect and ones that I
could not in this book; which pretty much makes this a perfectly GREAT
read!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Well I didn't get much read last week, and more than likely won't this week either because work will get very busy! I have a new hire to get through orientation and then I have new things to learn! We have important people coming in at the end of the week and I have to keep very busy those two days. This will be a very long, long week! Is it March yet?